A Norwegian teenager who travelled to the UK to carry out an assassination plot for an Iran-backed gang has been jailed for 20 years. Johannes Kongsnes Natland, 19, admitted possessing firearms and ammunition but was found guilty of conspiracy to murder after agreeing to kill an unknown target for £21,500.
Arrest in Huddersfield
Natland, a footballer from Stavanger, arrived in the UK on March 17 last year on a temporary passport, flying from Stavanger to Manchester Airport. Despite being stopped by Border Force officials and bailed to return home, he took a taxi to Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, where he picked up £2,000 in cash, two guns, and bullets, and was directed to a stolen Nissan with false plates.
Two days after his arrival, armed police arrested him at the Briar Court Hotel in Huddersfield. Officers seized a semi-automatic pistol, a revolver, 12 rounds of live ammunition, gloves, and £2,000 in cash from his room. At 5.15am, a smiling Natland emerged wearing only boxer shorts and pretended to shoot an officer with his empty hands.
Court sentencing and judge's remarks
In a televised sentencing at Woolwich Crown Court, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb said: “At the heart of this case is the stark fact you agreed to assassinate another human being, a stranger to you, in a foreign country. You knew nothing about the person’s life or circumstances.”
The judge added: “Although the fact that no one was shot dead or physically harmed is important, I am sure had the intervention of the police not prevented the plan from proceeding, you would have done what you had agreed to.” She said messages he sent showed “not only participation but at points excitement” about the plan.
Recruitment and gang involvement
The court heard Natland was recruited by a teenager known as “Generalen,” who worked for the proscribed Swedish Foxtrot gang, which is backed by the Iranian regime and known for deploying children as young as 13 in drug smuggling and violent crimes. Natland was controlled by an English-speaking boss called Agent 47, an apparent reference to the Hitman franchise.
Before leaving for the UK, Natland confided in his girlfriend, saying in a message: “I’m going on crazy mission.” According to her, he said: “Now I can finally kill someone and it’s perfect as I get money to do it. I can kill someone and life will be wonderful.” From his hotel room, he bragged to his girlfriend he had the “bangs in the bag” and took selfies with the guns and cash.
Defence and aftermath
Giving evidence, Natland said he wanted to look “cool” to his peers but it was just “bravado” and inside he was “terrified.” He told jurors: “I wasn’t an international assassin. I thought people had this impression and expected me to be this guy. I knew I wasn’t.” Paul Hynes KC, defending, highlighted Natland’s young age and said he had been “a young, popular, successful student and sportsman” before going “off the rails” after abusing drugs.
Natland’s recruiter, a 17-year-old known as “Generalen,” was convicted in Norway of attempting to “contribute to murder” in May last year. Three more people have been charged by Norwegian police, with a decision yet to be taken by prosecutors. In September 2025, a 27-year-old man was arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit murder and released under investigation. Two men, aged 30 and 27, were arrested in Bradford on May 20 on suspicion of handling stolen goods and released on bail. The identity and whereabouts of Agent 47 remain unknown.
Commander Helen Flanagan, head of Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) London, credited the “exceptional work” of British police working with Norwegian counterparts for Natland’s arrest hours before he was due to carry out the assassination. She said: “Natland was clearly being tasked by someone in the Foxtrot Network, an organised criminal group sanctioned by the UK and the US due to its involvement in orchestrating violence against Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe on behalf of the Iranian regime. The intended target of this specific assassination has never been identified, and we found no evidence of any direct link to Iran in this case. However, as recent events have shown, CTP will seek to proactively disrupt any attempts by hostile states to carry out criminal acts in the UK.”
